1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of ecommerce and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus for transacting using data preloaded from one or more transaction cards.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
Mobile phone technology is becoming increasingly more advanced with the advent of Smartphone technology. A Smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality. Some Smart phones are capable of running complete operating system software providing a standardized interface and platform for application developers. Other Smart phones simply come with advanced features like e-mail and Internet capabilities, and/or a full keyboard. The recent advancements in Smartphone technology have made it possible for the user to wirelessly interact with the consumer environment around them.
Credit card transacting is more and more prevalent with the advent of the Internet and ecommerce Websites. Likewise retail outlets now have wireless Intranet presence and smart transaction terminals. One problem with credit card transacting is the prospect of having cards lost or stolen. Another issue is knowing which cards to use under what circumstance. Having a card rejected by a sales clerk in front of other consumers may be embarrassing. A consumer must manually check balances, interest rates, and credit limits and remember those when using the associated cards. The inventors realized that if a smart phone could be developed that would read and write transaction card data and could enable account access and update from the same interface, transacting would be more reliable and less frustrating for users.